And over them, like the sky, arched their sense of harmony,
their sense of beauty and rest against which their misery and their struggles were an offense, to which their misery and their
struggles were the only approaches they could make, of which their misery and their struggles were an integral part.

The Crossan Boys Kicking & Bucking Every Step Of The Way!

BRETT

1960s ~ 2000+

Day

EDWARD

1920s ~ 1970s, 1984

Time

Class

The Hellraisers

JAMES

1900-1960

CROSSAN LADS

The Crossan
family

of nine brothers.

"Séamus"Edward Crossan

Born 1869 - Ireland

Single Dad of 9 lads and 2 bonnie lassies.

Widower of Bridget Crossan (born Ireland) &

Son of Michael Crossan, a flax mill worker/Mother-unknown.

Both my Grandfather, James,

and my Great-Grandfather, Edward

were Laborers.

James, a quay laborer

and Edward, an iron works laborer.

Many of the hellraising brothers

were miners.

Just simple working-class folk.

FURTHER FAMILY HISTORY IN DEVELOPMENT

A wee story about my great-uncle, Paddy:

SCOTTISH FOOTBALLERS IN THE

GREAT WORLD WARS

At the beginning of the 1914 football season, Heartswas Scotland's most successful team, winning
eight games in succession. On 26th November, 1914, every member of the team joined the British Army. This event had a major impact on the public and inspired footballers and their fans to enlist. Many
professional players, joined the 1st Football Battalion of the Middlesex
Regiment.

Seven members of the Heartsteam never returned to Scotland. Three of the men, Harry Wattie, Duncan Currie and Ernie Ellis, were killed on the first day of the
Sommeoffensive. Another member of the team, 22 year old Paddy
Crossan, was so badly injured that his right leg was labeled for amputation. He pleaded with the German surgeon not
to operate. He told him: "I need my legs - I'm a footballer." The surgeon agreed to his request and managed to save
his leg. "Paddy" survived the war but later died as a result of his lungs being destroyed
by poison gas.

On the first of July 1916, at 7:30 a.m. the British forces began their attack on the German
line at the Somme.
Within minutes men began to die. Slain by ferocious counter fire from the enemy. Machine gun emplacements, artillery fire,
and stubborn resistance put an end to hopes of a quick victory, a victory that would soon end the war.

By the end of the day there were almost 60,000 casualties, dead,
wounded

or missing. Later confirmation arrived of almost 20,000 dead.

The worst day in British army history!

Pte. Patrick James 'Paddy' Crossan

Gassed and possibly wounded at the Somme, Paddy's
wholehearted

attitude would have been of great encouragement to all those around him in the trenches. This robust and
popular player, twice wounded, returned to play for several more seasons. He earned two testimonials and later opened a pub
on Rose StreetEdinburgh.
“Paddy” died suddenly in 1933, not yet forty years of age! His bar survived under his name until
the late 1990s.